Tuesday, July 24, 2012

As The Waves Make Towards The Pebbled Shore, So Do Our Days

Another special day has gone by here
in VSA. From the great progress of my project, to the surprise birthday for a
sweet friend, I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Well, maybe I could have,
but nothing’s perfect right?

Anyway, my day started off like
usual; with a light breakfast of cereal and a fruit. After I finished
breakfast, I went off to class to continue working on the big grant project due
on Thursday. We worked pretty hard for the next two hours and I am really proud
to say that we are pretty much finished! Everything has gone well and our group
has worked hard. Dr. Sulikowski also checked my study design and was impressed
with my outline; however there was a minor thing she wanted me to add which was
simple, and didn’t take too much time.

One of the games

Once our time in the computer lab
came to an end, we all came back to the classroom to play a few of fun, silly
games before our lunch at the Pancake Pantry. We played games like Stacking
Cups as well as a tossing ball game which Hannah and I both won. Although this
class works hard, I love that we also have time to relax and just have fun for
a little while.

By lunch time, our stomachs were
empty and hungry for pancakes, so we head over there. I’ve been to Pancake
Pantry once before with my whole Vandy cohort, but this time, I would be eating
there with my whole Pharmacology class. As usual, the line to the restaurant was
long so we had to wait a few minutes before they could seat all 17 of us. Once
we were seated, I searched through the menu to see what appealed to my tastes.
I’ve had the Swiss Chocolate Chip pancakes before so this time I wanted to
change it up. After a couple minutes of indecisiveness, I eventually decided on
the Apricot-Lemon pancakes – which were heavenly. I admit, it was really sweet,
but it still tasted delicious. Pancake Pantry seems like the perfect brunch
place with friends and family. I am really glad I go to spend quality time with
my class here.

Back at the classroom, we had a
short lecture about Hallucinogens, and the craziness it causes. These types of
drugs work by disrupting the serotonin in your brain and will cause distortion
of reality and make you see things that don’t exist. This obviously sounds like
a pretty powerful drug since it also lasts for up to 12 hours. How crazy is
that? I didn’t know a person can experience that kind of distortion for so
long; no wonder it causes damage to your brain and body.

After class, a short free time and
dinner sped by pretty quickly since I spent that time reading a book. However,
after dinner, my friends and I decided to go out for S.O.F.T. and hang around
the areas near the end of our boundaries. During my time there, my friend Anna
wrote a letter to Taylor Swift who is rumored (by her professor) to be staying
at a certain hotel. We all walked all the way over to the hotel (in our
boundaries) to deliver the special letter to the country star. Once we arrived,
all of my friends besides Anna got nervous or something and decided not to go
inside. I, on the other hand, wanted to see for myself if the hotel people
would deliver the letter to her. Surprisingly, it was not hotel clerks, but
security guards at the front desk. We talked to them about the letter, but they
refused to deliver it to Taylor. Pretty much heartbroken, we head back to our
dorms; it really is too bad they didn't accept the letter. Nevertheless, I still had fun with my friends!

Amber and Tessa!

Happy Birthday Girl!

At the dorms, my proctor group and I
planned this little surprise birthday party for our group member Amber, who
turned 16 today. We spent all day decorating a room and even got her a birthday
cake from Ben and Jerry’s! After a few minutes of waiting in the dark, our
proctor brought her in for the big surprise. Even though she had her suspicions
all day, she was still surprised to find out about her party. We hung out there
for a few minutes, had cake, and finally went back to our dorms. Boy, what a
long day this has been! Even so, time is just rolling along, like waves going
over the sand. Sometimes it is at different tempos but the waves still come to
the shore, signaling a new day.

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THE COURSES WE'LL BE TAKING

For a 3 week period between July 8th thru 27th we will be taking the following courses:

Lived Religion: The Abrahamic Faiths

Chris will dig deeper into the study of the monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and have the opportunity to explore local religious communities to learn more about the practices of these different faiths and open their minds to three of the most widely practiced religions around the world.

Pharmacology: How Drugs Work

Yessenia and Hannah Lee will study the origins, properties, and effects of prescription and non-prescription drugs. By visiting campus labs Yessenia and her classmates will examine an array of subjects such as exactly how insulin regulates blood levels and the actual process of discovering new drugs

Yessenia will also be able to examine and discuss the moral and sociological dilemmas and controversies involving the characteristics of different medicines and how their nature has affected our world throughout the years. Yessenia is thrilled to study this exciting and intriguing class that will help her gain new perspectives on the drugs used on a daily basis.

Mystery Writing

Narges will learn about the elements of mystery writing in various works of literature. She will read classic and contemporary examples of mysteries and produce an original mystery story of her own. Narges looks forward to learning more about mysteries and adapting a new style of writing. Narges hopes to produce a thrilling mystery story rivaling those of her favorite mystery writer: the one and only Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.